The Advantages of Custom, In-house Export Compliance Training | ECTI

For most companies, the need to train their employees in export controls and compliance can be met through the live, in-person export compliance training seminars that ECTI offers across the country. But occasionally, an organization has more specific needs or logistical requirements that make customized, in-house sessions the logical choice.

ECTI has decades of experience in creating customized, in-house export compliance training that ranges from general awareness sessions for large groups to specialized content for specific functional roles in an organization. Most customized sessions are delivered live, on-site by our instructors, although ECTI also offers instructor-led or self-study online options to meet the needs and requirements of organizations and learners.

How do you decide which option is best for your organization?

Why Customized, In-house Training May Make Sense

Organizations work with ECTI to develop customized, in-house training for several reasons:

• Specificity – Custom training focuses on the specific needs of employees to give them the knowledge and information they need to perform their jobs properly. This kind of tailored training is often the impetus for requesting customized training.
• Customized content – Some organizations need to focus on specialized content for their training, such as the specific aspects of the regulations that relate to their industry, products, technologies, export markets, or risk profile ECTI guides clients deep into the weeds of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions
• Convenience – Scheduling large groups of employees who may be based at different locations across the country or around the world can be daunting. If employees are gathering at a certain location for another purpose, such as an annual sales conference, it makes sense to add custom training sessions either before or after the event to maximize the company’s investment.
• Flexibility – Custom training enables an organization to structure sessions that meet multiple needs simultaneously. For example, an organization may ask ECTI to come to its headquarters and provide a one-hour awareness training session four times over two days with different groups of employees. Between these sessions, instructors provide higher level, focused training with specific groups such as the shipping department or sales or offer customized sessions on regulatory updates for the legal department and executive team.
• Privacy – Although public, in-person ECTI seminars provide deep content, attendees may be hesitant to ask questions about problems or issues when they don’t know who else is attending – perhaps a competitor or a government regulator? Custom, in-house sessions allow employees to be open in their questions and in sharing their experiences. This is especially helpful when employees wonder if they may have inadvertently done the wrong thing and didn’t know it. Open dialogue with the instructor and their fellow employees often leads attendees to find better solutions, obtain helpful knowledge on proper procedures for compliance, and gain confidence in their knowledge and skills.
• Confidentiality – ECTI has worked with corporations, U.S. and non-U.S. government agencies, and other entities which need high-quality training on U.S. export controls provided in complete confidentiality. These organizations value learning about U.S. regulations in a confidential setting where they are comfortable asking questions and having deeper discussions with instructors which may touch on sensitive matters.
• Consent agreements – A number of companies which have reached a settlement with the U.S. government have chosen ECTI to provide ITAR and EAR training with a portion of their remediation budget. On-site training can be an efficient substitute for, or supplement to, sending staff to a public seminar.
• International requests – U.S. companies with overseas operations or divisions, as well as non-U.S. companies and governments, often request in-house training at their locations.

Our Process for Developing Custom, In-House Training

When a client approaches ECTI about developing custom, in-house training for their organization, we follow a thorough process to assess their needs and develop the precise kind of training that fits their requirements and conditions. We usually work with the training group or human resources department at large companies, although often we are contacted by functional heads such as an export control manager or trade compliance director, international sales managers or sales engineers, general counsel, or other lawyers in the organization with trade compliance responsibility.

We begin by discussing their business operations, the types of items (products or services) they export, and how their exports are controlled. We ask about the challenges they face and common problems that arise.

We ascertain the level of training needed: in some cases, all employees need general awareness training, while in other situations, functional or expert level training is required. We also determine how many employees need to be trained and how many locations may be involved. Often, sub-groups can be formed by location or function. The combination of content requirements and groups helps us decide whether in-person or online custom training is the best fit.

This discerning approach helps companies better understand their own training needs and how ECTI can best fit. We do our best to accommodate our clients’ requirements, budget, and time constraints for their employees. We develop a proposed training agenda that breaks down the content topics and session timing and we provide an estimate of the cost for delivering these custom sessions at their location.

A Note About ECTI Instructors

A distinguishing feature of ECTI training is the high quality of our instructors. This holds true for our custom training sessions as well. All instructors possess deep subject matter expertise and must have a proven track record as effective and engaging instructors. Our instructors possess practical, hands-on experience in trade compliance – many have served in an in-house export control role such as a manager or director, or as a consultant or lawyer. All instructors have a clear understanding of export regulations and how they are implemented, as well as prioritization and relative risks. The expertise of our instructors goes beyond book learning – they have real world experience that they can share with attendees as they discuss real world compliance issues.

Custom, in-house training isn’t right for every organization – in our discussions with clients, many find that their goals can be accomplished easily through the live, public training sessions that we offer across the country on a wide range of export control topics. ECTI is happy to help you determine the right fit and format for your organization.

Are you considering custom, in-house export compliance training? Visit www.learnexportcompliance.com to learn about our company, our faculty, our staff and our esteemed Export Compliance Professional (ECoP^®) certification program. To find upcoming e-seminars, live seminars and live webinars and browse our catalog of 80-plus on-demand webinars, visit our ECTI Academy. You can also call the Export Compliance Training Institute at 540-433-3977 for more information.